U.S. Women's Mountain Running Team Decided at Loon

Weekly trail/ultra racing recap for July 9

Published

July 9, 2012

Loon Mountain Race – Lincoln, Nh.

The first four women to top out on the 5-mile climb earned spots on the U.S. Mountain Running Team that will compete in Italy this Sept. Paralleling the current situation in men’s mountain running, women from a variety of backgrounds made this one of the most competitive mountain races in U.S. history.

Despite wins at the Vail Pass Half Marathon, at the U.S. trail half marathon championship, and on the XTERRA circuit, Morgan Arritola (Ketchum, Id.) had yet to race against the country’s best. In New Hampshire, it just didn’t matter as everyone trailed the 2010 Olympic Nordic skier and Scott-sponsored athlete. Finishing in 46:16, Arritola took almost four minutes off Kasie Enman’s course record and was a dominant 50 seconds ahead of her closest challenger. Even more compelling, she was just 15 seconds off the 2008 course record set by men’s team member Eric Blake. Before worlds, Arritola looks to compete at the Pikes Peak Ascent in August.

Melody Fairchild (Boulder, Co.) was a surprise runner-up in 47:06. Best known for her achievements over 20 years ago, Fairchild is a former two-time Footlocker high school national champion. New Balance’s Brandy Erholtz (Evergreen, Co.) fought to a third-place 48:06, matching her position from a year ago and being the lone returning team member from 2011. Stevie Kremer (Crested Butte, Co.), a Salomon-sponsored runner who is also a competitive ski mountaineer, was fourth in 48:21.

Arritola, Fairchild, and Kremer are all first-time team members, while Erholtz showed remarkable consistency by earning her fifth appearance on the national team.

Mirroring the situation on the men’s side with Max King, the 2011 World Mountain Running champion Kasie Enman (Huntington, Vt.) will not defend her title this year after finishing fifth and missing a spot on the national team. In a more unusual situation, despite being the 2012 U.S. Mountain Running champion by virtue of her Mount Washington win, Kim Dobson (Grand Junction, Co.) will also not be a part of the national team as she was sixth. Past team members Laura Haefeli (Del Norte, Co.), Chris Lundy (Sausalito, Ca.), Michele Suszek (Denver, Co.), and Megan Kimmel (Silverton, Co.) trailed in 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th, respectively. Colorado women took six of the top-10 positions.

For 85 years, the Mount Marathon has sent runners 3,022 feet up the race’s namesake mountain and back down over 3.1 miles on an average 38-degree slope. Despite racing over such a short distance, the race brings extreme conditions with technical terrain, significant exposure, and the potential for late afternoon weather (the men’s race starts at 3:00 PM).

A fired-up Matt Novakovich (Anchorage, Ak.) won the grueling event in 44:07, the race’s fourth-fastest time ever. Always a strong uphill runner after training on a treadmill set to a 40-degree incline, the BYU alum greatly improved his downhill running to move up from last year’s fifth-place finish. Past winners Trond Flagstad and Matias Saari, both of Anchorage, were second and third in 44:26 and 45:13, respectively. Last year’s winner, Eric Strabel, also of Anchorage, finished eighth in 46:52, despite having the race’s fastest downhill split. As of this writing, 66-year-old Michael LeMaitre remained missing, four days after the July 4 race. The search has been suspended.

After three second-place finishes, Holly Brooks (Anchorage, Ak.), an Olympic Nordic skier, won the women’s race in 51:53. Lauren Fritz (Chugiak, Ak.) was second in 54:47 with Laura Brosius (Fairbanks, Ak.) running into third place on the downhill section at 55:04. 2011 champ Kikkan Randall, also an Olympic skier, did not participate.

Best known as a road runner – he was 12th in 1:04 at the U.S. half marathon championships last month - Joe Moore (Minneapolis, Mn.) put his perfect trail streak on the line at the USATF Minnesota state trail championship. Moore raced the up-and-down 25k course through woodland and prairie in 1:37:10 to finish first. Former Univ. of Minnesota runner Ben Kampf (Minneapolis, Mn.) was second in 1:38:52 with Team USA Minnesota’s Josh Moen (Eden Prairie, Mn.) third in 1:40:20. St. Olaf College runner Emma Lee (St. Paul, Mn.) won the women’s state championship in 1:55:13. In second and third, Melissa Gacek (White Bear Lake, Mn.) led 15-year-old Anna French (Plymouth, Mn.) under the 2-hour mark in 1:59:41 and 1:59:59, respectively.

Victory in the 50k distance went to Forrest Tracy (St. Paul, Mn.), edging Dimitri Drekonja (Minneapolis, Mn.) by a slim 3:54:57 to 3:55:57 margin. Mike Bialick (Minnetonka, Mn.) was third in 4:00:25. Eve Rukavina-Rembleski (Watertown, Mn.) won the women’s race in 4:21:29.

Ryan Hafer (Colorado Springs, Co.), a member of the American Distance Project and the youngest winner in Pikes Peak Ascent history, finished the 7.5-mile climb first at 49:20. He would double back the next day to set a new course record in the Colorado Springs Summer Roundup 12k. In second and third 2,500 feet above Vail, Jason Delaney (Golden, Co.) and Simon Gutierrez (Colo. Springs, Co.) ran 51:27 and 53:42, respectively. Erica Baron (Los Alamos, Nm.), a five-time Pikes Peak Marathon winner and 2004 Olympic trials marathoner, dominated the women’s run in 1:01:39. Eva Hagen (Colo. Springs, Co.) was a distant second in 1:07:41 and Mia Stockdale, a member of the 1997 U.S. Mountain Running Team, topped the mountain third at 1:08:08.

Ryan Hafer doubled back from the Vail Hill Climb for his second win of the weekend. Hafer reached the uphill turnaround point with a 20-second lead on Mount Washington winner Sage Canaday (Boulder, Co.) and then crushed the downhill return to set a new course record at 41:49. Geofrey Terer, a Kenyan training in Colo. Springs, kicked past Canaday for second in 42:58. Canaday, the U.S. Mountain Running champion, was third in 43:00. Kelly Ramirez (Fort Collins, Co.) claimed the women’s crown in 53:09. Despite being 19 weeks pregnant, Rachel Cuellar (Albuquerque, Nm.) was a strong second in 54:40. Colo. Springs local Rochelle Persson was third in 55:02.